Innocence
by Patricia Sage
Summary: Kurt and Blaine are shopping one evening when they see a little girl crying in the aisle. Klaine to the rescue! Fluff!


**Innocence**

**Author's Note: Hello there! So, it's my dear friend AngelisIgniRelucent's birthday on the 15****th**** and this is one of my birthday gifts to her. **** So yes. She prompted this and I wrote it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

"Blaine, no," Kurt scolded, slapping my hands away from the coloured fabric, "You _do not_ need any more bowties."

I looked at him pleadingly, "_Kurt_," I whined, "Look at this one!" I snatched a tie off of the rack before he could stop me. "It has little sailboats on it!"

He pursed his lips and gently pried it from my hands, "I know it does, honey, but you have way too many."

"According to whom?"

"Everybody besides you." He was scolding me, but his eyes were shining with amusement. I let the subject drop and shoved his shoulder a little.

"Let's go, then," I sighed, "Before I'm unable to resist the temptation."

He laughed—one of my favourite sounds—and led me to the other section of the store. WE were holding hands, which got us a couple of dirty looks, but it felt too thrilling yet comfortable to stop. "Ooh, Blaine, you should try this on!" he suddenly exclaimed, placing a shirt in my arms. It was a gorgeous shade of grey with neon pink, horizontal stripes near the collar.

"It's lovely," I said, "But I've already tried on a million outfits for you, Kurt." I looked up at him with a bemused smile. I was only exaggerating a little; I had a total of three bags filled with new clothes from my enthusiastic and fashionable boyfriend.

He shrugged, absently dusting my shoulders. "It's not my fault that I'm shopping with allowance money and a willing boyfriend who happens to have the perfect body…if a little on the short side." He winked at me and I blushed.

"Shut up," I muttered, handing him the shirt, which he put back on the rack with a pout.

Just then, our playful banter was cut short by the sound of a child crying. Immediately, my heart hurt at the sound, and I started looking for the source of the noise. I walked around the racks of clothes until I found the child. She was little, only about three—maybe four—years old by my estimation. She had curly blonde hair held back in a ponytail and an outfit involving varying shades of pink.

She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the aisle, sobbing. I felt fierce distain towards the people who avoided the area in order to not get involved. I walked up and knelt to the ground in front of her. "Hey, sweetie," I said, "What's wrong?"

She sniffled and looked up at me with watering brown eyes. "I can't find my mommy," she choked out.

"Aw," I said in sympathy. I reached into the pocket of my solid yellow short pants and pulled out a packet of Kleenex. I took one out and gently wiped her face off and helped her blow her nose. Her tears had stopped falling, but she still looked very sad. "What's your name?" I asked, sitting cross-legged in front of her so that she wouldn't have to crane her neck to look at me.

"Rosemary," she said, rubbing her face.

"Hi, Rosemary. I'm Blaine," I smiled at her and she giggled a little.

"Hi, Blaine," she said. I sensed Kurt's presence beside me; supporting, but not wanting to get involved. "Who's he?" she pointed at Kurt with a slightly demanding expression.

I smiled up at Kurt and told her, "This is my best friend. His name is Kurt."

"Hello, Kurt," she said, polite but slightly shy, "You're very pretty."

Kurt crouched beside me and smiled at her gently, "Thank you. You look very nice in pink." She laughed a little at this. "So, where did you last see your mom?"

"Oh," Rosemary scrunched up her face as she thought, "She wanted to come here to get some pretty clothes but then she saw this man and she really had to talk to him. So, she told me to stay by the tree but then she was gone for a long time so I thought she came here but she isn't here and she probably forgot and went home without me!"

I sensed a possible onslaught of tears in the near future. "Hey, don't worry," I said, before she could get worked up again, "We'll help you find her, okay?"

Rosemary looked at me with hopeful brown eyes, "Really?"

"Of course, sweetheart. We'll find your mom in no time." Kurt stood up and I extended my hand for the little girl to take. Rosemary, however, had a different idea.

Before I knew it, I had an armful of a blonde little girl. She clung to my shoulders. "Thank you, Blaine!" she exclaimed happily.

I chuckled a little, "No problem, honey." When I moved to stand up, she didn't let go. In fact, she clung tighter to my neck. I resigned myself to my fate and stood up, supporting her weight with my right arm, since the other held my shopping bags.

"You're strong," she said happily and I thanked her. She was a little heavy to hold up with only one arm, but she was clinging to me like a monkey, so I wasn't scared that she was going to fall off.

Kurt was watching me with a peculiar expression, but he turned away before I could question it.

Kurt led the way towards the customer services desk. Rosemary chattered into my ear the entire time, asking me questions and telling me stories. I kept up the conversation with her and pretty soon we had reached our destination.

"Hi, we found a lost child," Kurt said professionally, "She's lost her mom; could you broadcast it over the store, or whatever?" He turned to me and muttered, "What's it called?" I just shrugged.

The man behind the counter got her name and physical description and soon his monotone voice was relaying the information over the intercom. It took about ten more minutes of talking with Rosemary—Kurt finally got comfortable enough around her to make her laugh—before her mother showed up.

"My name is Ruth Collins. Where is my daughter?" she asked briskly. The woman was tall—like, seriously tall. I felt intimidated—with long blonde hair and thin, candy-coloured lips.

I spoke up before the bored man behind the counter could speak up. "She's right here, ma'am," I said, giving a little wave. Finally, she seemed to notice Kurt, Rosemary and I. Locking gazes with me, she quickly walked over. Her knee-high boots clacked on the linoleum as she stared me down. Ruth snatched her daughter out of my grasp as soon as she was close enough.

"Oh, hi Mom!" Rosemary said happily.

Ruth was checking her over for injuries. "Yes, hello, dear. Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"No. They're really nice," the girl replied.

The woman fixed her stern blue eyes on us and I unconsciously moved slightly in front of Kurt. She saw the movement and her eyes narrowed. "Thank you," she said shortly.

Kurt reached over and took my hand. I was slightly startled, but when I looked over and saw that look on his face—steady green eyes, pursed mouth—I knew that he was proving a point. "You're welcome," he said, with a voice just as cold.

Ruth turned away with a sneer in our direction and started to walk away. I was feeling kind of sad about the whole thing until Rosemary turned around and looked at us over her mom's shoulder. With a grin on her face, she waved enthusiastically. I couldn't stop myself from smiling back at her and, when I looked over, I saw that neither could Kurt.

Rosemary didn't stop waving until we were no longer in her line of sight. Then, Kurt and I looked at each-other. "Well, we should probably get home," I said.

He looked at me softly. "You were really great with that little girl," he smiled at me, moving a little closer.

"Yeah?" I couldn't identify the expression in his eyes, but I knew it was good by the way it made me feel.

He nodded, "Yeah." We were in a secluded section of the mall. The guy behind the counter had actually fallen asleep with his head in his hands, so he wouldn't bother us. "Seeing you…interact with her…I couldn't help but feel…I mean, I know it's weird…" he trailed off, nervously biting his lip.

"What?" I prompted.

"Well," he looked up at me with those stunning eyes, "I couldn't help but picture…us. With a family someday."

I had to purse my lips and look away, or I the tears would have escaped. I took a deep breath before looking up at his steady eyes once more. "I'd like that," I managed to choke out.

Kurt smiled at me, then grabbed my hand once more. But, this time, it wasn't a sign of defiance or a representation of something we had. It was just us, feeling this indescribable need to be close to each-other.

"Come on," Kurt said, smiling at me, "Let's go buy you one of those bow-ties."

"Yes!"

**Author's Second Note: If you read this, you should send AngelisIgniRelucent a nice birthday message! :D I hope that you have a Merry Christmas or whatever you might celebrate, and thanks for reading!**

**Take care.**

**-Patricia Sage**


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